Control element for shuttleless looms



July 29, 1969 M. CLAEYS 3457r967 CONTROL ELEMENT FOR SHUTTLELESS LOOMS Filed June 22, 1966 2 Sheets$heet 1 INVENTOR H MARCEL CLAEYS July 29, 1969 M. CLAEYS CONTROL ELEMENT FOR SHUTTLELESS LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 22, 1966 INVENTOR MARCEL CLAEYS ATTORNEY States Patent 46,158 Int. Cl. D03d 47/00, 49/60 US. Cl. 139122 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The control element is a plurality of cam-actuated mechanisms mounted on a single means along the side of the batten extension, readily moveable to allow different widths of cloth to be made.

This invention is concerned with improvements in the control apparatus for a shuttleless loom of the type which employs a flying weft-gripper. The purpose of this invention is to provide an element wherein a number of control accessories are mounted on a common support which may be readily moved across the width of the loom, for example, to provide for manufacture of cloth of various widths.

In traditional weaving, the weft or filling yarn is supplied by a movable member containing a relatively large supply of yarn. This member has been named a shuttle due to its back-and-forth motion from one side to the other side of the loom. The shuttle passes through the shed of the loom which is composed of warp threads, some of which are upwardly placed to form the top of the shed and some of which are downwardly placed to form the bottom of the shed. In its passage through the shed, the shuttle unwinds a fill of yarn or thread and is caught at the other side of the loom. The reed is used to beat the fill of thread, deposited in the shed, against previous fills which, by this time, comprise the woven cloth. During the time of beating, the shed usually is collapsed and remade, some or all of the warp threads previously forming the top of the shed, now forming the bottom of the new shed, while some or all previously bottom threads are in the top of the new shed. The shuttle is then propelled, in a direction reverse to its previous passage, through the new shed, depositing another fill of yarn in this new shed and being caught at the other side of the loom.

The shuttleless or false shuttle loom is a relatively recent improvement in weaving machines. In such looms the supply of weft yarn is mounted as a stationary supply at one or both sides of the loom. A movable member grasps an end of thread from such supply and is propelled partially or fully through the shed. This movable member or weft-gripper is designed to grasp an end of the stationarily mounted yarn, the rest of the length of yarn, comprising a fill and perhaps a little more yarn, trailing behind the Weft-gripper.

In one type of such loom, a plurality of grippers is employed to carry a length of filling yarn through the shed. Each of the plurality of grippers, in succession, grasps an end of filling yarn from the stationary supply at one side of the loom, is propelled through the shed and releases the end at the other side, being caught by a brake box and returned to the loading position by a conveyer system. In another type of apparatus, a gripper mechanism reciprocates, shuttlewise, through the shed, grasping ends of filling yarn from a stationary supply at either side of the loom, being propelled through the shed and releasing the end of filling yarn at the other side of the loom. The trailing portion of the filling yarn, of course, is left in the shed, where it is beaten, etc., as a fill in the traditional loom.

Patented July 29, 1969 The shuttleness loom provides a number of advantages in weaving. It will be readily appreciated that a weft-gripper need be only a small fraction of the weight of a traditional shuttle, which must contain a large supply of filling thread; thus passage of the weft-gripper through the shed is generally faster making for a greater productivity of cloth per loom. Also, the weight of the weft-gripper remains constant during its use, rather than declining in weight as a yarn supply nears exhaustion. Thus, the speed of passage through the shed can remain constant during fabrication of a length of cloth and the time allowed for beating, shed formation, etc., may be more accurately gauged without allowance for variation in the speed of fill deposition in the shed. It is apparent, also, that the use of a shuttleness loom obviates the need for shuttle winding, the stationary weft holders being able to hold as much yarn as desirable, for example, being as large as Warp-yarn holders.

In a traditional loom the support means for the reed is called a batten, and generally this batten is horizontally extended, beyond the shed space, at both sides of the loom, and such extensions support, among other elements, a brake box for catching the shuttle on its exit from the shed, and a throwing mechanism for propelling the shuttle through the new shed, on its return trip. It is apparent that a shuttleness loom needs to be provided with further mechanisms for example, to cut the filling thread, whether the leading end, the trailing end or both, to supply a new end of thread to the gripper, etc. Such mechanisms may be characterized as control mechanisms and advantageously should be programmable for their operation to coincide with the presence of the weft-gripper adjacent thereto. Such control mechanisms advantageously are mounted at the lateral batten extensions.

In this invention, a control apparatus is provided for a shuttleles loom, the apparatus comprising a number of control mechanisms having a common mounting means suitable for attachment to the lateral batten extensions. Each of the plurality of control mechanisms is cam actuated and a shaft running the width of the loom is provided having cams suitably shaped and spaced for actuating the control mechanisms.

One of the control mechanisms may be an air-tight box having means for its interior to be connected to a vacuum source. Such a box is arranged on the common mounting means in such position that its upper outer surface is along the raceway of the weft-gripper of the loom. This upper surface will be provided with a door actuable by a cam in conjunction with the movement of the weft-gripper to subject weft-yarn carried by the weft-gripper to vacuum, whereby said yarn is drawn into the box for cutting. Advantageously, the door is a sliding door which has a sharpened edge to cut the thread when it closes and the closing may be accomplished by a spring.

On the mounting plate also may be a mechanism designed to feed a new end of filler yarn to the weft-gripper under the influence of cam actuation. Also various other mechanisms may be supported by the mounting plate which provide for various interactions with the weftgripper at times programmed to coincide with passage of the weft-gripper in a certain direction, usually removing the mechanism from the path of the gripper during reverse-direction travel.

The invention will be better understood by reference to the accompanying drawings in which FIGURE 1 is a front view of the control block mounted on one end of the batten of a shuttleless loom;

FIGURE 2 is a side view, partly in cross section, along the line 2--2 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a cross-sectional view along the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a view along the line 44 of FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view along the line 5-5 of FIGURE 1.

In the drawings, the batten 11 of a shuttleless loom is provided, at least at its end, with the frame-member 13 which is provided with the longitudinal slot 15. Fasteners 18 and 20 pass through this slot 15 to attach to the framemember 13 the mounting plate 22. Mounting plate 22 supports the control box 25 and the bracket 28.

As shown, the control box 25 is hollow and its interior is adapted to be kept at lower-than-atmospheric pressure by the provision of suction duct to which a vacuum hose (not shown) may be connected. The upper outside surface 33 of the control box 25 forms part of the raceway for the weft-gripper 36 of the loom. The surface 33 has an air-intake opening 39 which is sealed off by the sliding door 42 which advantageously has a sharp front edge 44. This edge preferably is honed to razor-sharpness and strikes against a stationary, removable, and replaceable anvil 46. The door 42 is biased closed by a spring 48. The bias of the spring 48 is overcome, to slide open the door 42, by the oscillating arm 50, inside the control box 25, which is rigidly fastened to the shaft 53 which projects outside the box and is rigidly connected to lever 55. This lever ends in a freely turning wheel 57 positioned to ride on the edge of cam 60 which is rigidly fastened to rotating cam shaft 63. This camshaft 63 extends the whole width of the loom and may serve also in the oscillation of the batten 11. This shaft preferably rotates at halfspeed, making one turn for every two strokes of the batten.

As mentioned, the mounting plate 22 also supports the bracket 28, to which the beam 66 is rigidly fastened. This beam 66 is provided at its lower end with the articulation axle 70 of a rocker 72. This rocker has a live wheel at one end, which is in contact with a cam 77 mounted on the shaft 63. The other end of the rocker is connected by a rod 80 to an arm 82 which controls the oscillations of a thread-feeder 84 which is mounted on an axle 86 placed at the upper end of beam 66. A mechanism called a lantern nut 88 (a nut with threads at both ends) makes it possible to lengthen or shorten rod 80 at will.

The thread-feeder 84 is provided with the curved-down end 90 which has the eye 93. Thus the eye 93 and the fill yarn carried therein may be brought deeply into a longitudinal groove 96 of the weft-gripper 36 where it may be readily grasped. The weft-gripper may be, for example, the gripper shown in my copending application Ser. No. 559,594, filed on even date herewith.

On the axdle 86 of beam 66, one or more additional rockers such as 98 can be articulated. The free end of rocker 98, bears a control boss 101. In the embodiment shown, this boss is a free wheel revolvable at the end of rocker 98. Each rocker 98 is connected with an arm 103 which descends the length of beam 66 and terminates in a live wheel 105 which works together with a cam 107 of the shaft 63. The arm 103 is held elastically against the beam 66 by a spring mechanism 109.

Arrangements such as rocker 98 may be designed to do a number of tasks. For example, they may be designed to operate, by contact, one or more triggers located in or on the weft-gripper 36, operating, in turn, different elements such as a clamp or the shears. The cam 107 will be arranged in such manner as to push the arm 103 away from the beam 66, against the bias of the spring mechanism 109 when the weft-gripper 36 is approaching the control mechanism after its exit from the shed. This action causes descent of the boss 101 into, for example, a cavity of the weft-gripper 36.

The operation of the apparatus is as follows: When the weft-gripper 36 emerges from the shed, the edge of cam 60 reaches its uppermost position, causing oscillation of arm 50 and opening of the door 42. The filling yarn carried by the gripper 36 is sucked into the box 25. Further rotation of cam 60 reduces the force on the arm 50, allowing the spring 48 to close the door 42. The cutting edge 44 severs the filling yarn at a point which can be determined with great precision. The sliding door 42 remains closed while the weft-gripper 36 travels over it in the opposite direction, and thus does not cause the new filling thread supplied by the feeder eye 93 to make any undesirable deviation close to the moment that the weft-holder seizes it.

To facilitate the introduction of the filling yarn into the clamp of the weft-gripper 36, the cam 77 lowers the eye 93 into the groove 96 at the proper moment, then frees the arm 84, which can be raised again by any desired method, whether it be by electricity, springs, counterweights, etc.

According to the type of loom, the weft-gripper 36 may have one or more clamps, as well as one or more sets of shears. Each of these accessories may be controlled by a trigger located on the weft-holder, which trigger may be operated by bosses such as 101 each time that the weftgripper passes at the boss level in a given direction as explained above. On the contrary, when the weft-holder is passing in the opposite direction the boss 101 is in a withdrawn position in order to take it temporarily out of action.

It can be readily seen that by mounting the control block which has just been described, as well as all its accessories on the common plate 22, a control element is produced which can be controlled, assembled, disassembled, adjusted or disengaged while in position on the batten. In particular, this makes letting off especially simple since the unit can be moved across the length of the batten 11. To this end it is convenient for two ensembles to be symmetrically set at each end of the batten and be fixed, in whatever position is desired, by means of fastening mechanisms such as 18 and 20.

It should be understood that the preceding description is only given as an illustration and that it in no way limits the scope of the invention which lends itself to such a wealth of variations that it would be impossible to describe them all. For example, the mounting plate 22 need not pass behind the control box 25, but may be attached as ears to the sides of the box. In particular, the compass of the invention is not altered by giving the cams 60, 77 and/or 107 different profiles capable of operating the various control elements according to the widest possible principles of movement. For example, cam 107, which operates boss 101 and may open a clamp of the weftgripper, could be given a profile which would insure a very slight opening of said clamp at the moment the weft-gripper seizes the thread presented by the feeder, while the jaws of the clamp would open completely at the moment the yarn was released. This arrangement would offer the advantage of making it possible to weave with fine thread without risking severing it at the moment the clamp is closed as might occur due to simple inertia should the jaws be allowed to close of their own elasticity after having been opened too wide.

What is claimed is:

1. In a shuttleless loom having a batten extending laterally past the shed formed by the warp threads on the loom, the improvements which comprise a flange fastened to the side of said batten; means on said flange for movably supporting a mounting means and a plurality of camactuated control mechanisms supported on said mounting means.

2. The loom of claim 1 in which one of the control mechanisms is an air-tight box having means for its interior to be connected to a vacuum source, said box being arranged on said mounting means in such position that its upper outer surface is along the raceway of the Weft-gripper of said loom, said upper surface having a door and a cam actuating said door in conjunction with the movement of said weft-gripper to subject weft-yarn carried by said weft-gripper to vacuum, whereby said yarn is drawn into said box for cutting.

3. The loom of claim 2 in which said door is slidable against the bias of a spring and is provided with a cutting edge.

4. The loom of claim 1 in which one of said control mechanisms is a thread feeder actuatable by one of said cams to bring filling yarn within a depression in a weftgripper of said loom whereby said yarn may be seized by said gripper.

5. The loom of claim 1 in which one of said control mechanisms is a boss, a cam actuating said boss and so designed as to bring said boss into contact with the weftgripper of said loom during passage of said weft-gripper in one direction and allowing removal of said boss from contactable position during passage of said weft-gripper in another direction.

6. The loom of claim 1 in which the means on said flange for movably supporting a mounting means is a horizontally extending slot in said flange.

7. The loom of claim 6 in which the batten extends laterally past the shed on two sides of the loom and each said extending portion supports one of said flanges and one of said mounting means.

8. The loom of claim 7 in which a single cam shaft running the length of the loom is provided for said camactuated control mechanism.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 960,019 5/1910 Hunt l39-126 1,632,912 6/1927 Mullor et al. 139125 1,921,396 8/1933 Pool 139194 X 2,152,255 3/1939 Hefti 139126 2,976,892 3/1961 Morin 139l26 3,213,892 10/1965 Fluhmann 139-126 3,310,073 3/1967 Claeys l39-126 X FOREIGN PATENTS 1,421,773 11/ 1965 France. 1,028,996 5/1966 Great Britain.

971,273 9/1964 Great Britain.

JAMES KEE CHI, Primary Examiner US. 01. X.R. 139 12s, 188 

